Nottingham City Council is preparing to consult residents, police and other interested groups on whether alcohol-related Public Spaces Protection Orders covering the whole city should be extended for another three years.
The decision is subject to call-in, with a call-in expiry date of 6 July 2026.
The existing orders restrict alcohol consumption in designated public places across Nottingham City Council’s administrative area.
They cover areas including the city centre, Hyson Green, Sneinton, Forest, Mapperley, Basford, St Ann’s, Vernon Park, the Arboretum, Radford and Park, parts of Leen Valley and wider city areas not covered by earlier orders.
The council is not yet deciding whether to extend the orders. The decision taken on 29 June only allows consultation to begin. Once that consultation has closed, any responses and supporting evidence will be reported back to the council’s Executive Board, which will then decide whether the orders should continue.
The restrictions were originally introduced as Designated Public Place Orders between 2005 and 2014 under the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. Those powers were later replaced by Public Spaces Protection Orders under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Nottingham’s existing orders effectively became PSPOs in October 2017.
Unlike the earlier orders, PSPOs can only run for up to three years at a time and must be reviewed before they are extended. Nottingham City Council’s Executive Board previously approved an extension in 2020, and the orders were reviewed and extended again in 2023. They are now due to expire on 17 October 2026 unless a further extension is approved.
Council papers say the proposed extension would run for a further three years and is being considered because officers believe the orders remain necessary to help prevent alcohol-related crime, nuisance and disorder in public places.
The report says that if the orders are allowed to expire, Community Protection Officers and police officers would no longer have powers derived from them to deal with alcohol-related crime and disorder across the city.
Between 1 January 2023 and 1 May 2026, Community Protection recorded 1,125 alcohol confiscations, 28 breaches for failure to surrender alcohol, 20 fixed penalty notices for breach of a PSPO and 502 PSPO warnings.
Figures included in the decision also show that alcohol-tagged crime and alcohol-related anti-social behaviour remain an issue in Nottingham. Alcohol-tagged crime was recorded at 3,838 incidents in 2021, rising to 4,455 in 2022, before falling to 4,084 in 2023 and 4,056 in 2024. In 2025, the figure was 4,202. Alcohol-related anti-social behaviour fell over the same period, from 1,975 incidents in 2021 to 1,048 in 2025.
The council report says this evidence shows alcohol-related anti-social behaviour is still “very prevalent” and that the PSPO remains a necessary tool to support the council and police in dealing with alcohol-related issues, particularly in the city centre.
The orders do not apply to licensed premises or club premises where the sale or supply of alcohol is authorised under the Licensing Act 2003, or to places covered by other relevant permissions, including temporary event notices, during the permitted period and for 30 minutes afterwards. This means the restrictions are aimed at alcohol-related behaviour in public places rather than lawful drinking inside licensed venues or authorised event spaces.
Before any extension can be agreed, the council must consult the Chief Officer of Police, the local policing body, relevant community representatives and landowners or occupiers within the restricted areas. The council must also publicise the proposed extension on its website.
The decision papers say a two-week consultation period is considered sufficient in line with current statutory guidance. The consultation is expected to include Nottinghamshire Police and local residents who directly benefit from the restrictions.
The council also has to consider legal safeguards before deciding whether to continue the orders, including freedom of expression and freedom of assembly rights under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Legal comments in the report say PSPOs can be extended for up to three years if the council is satisfied there are reasonable grounds to believe the extension is necessary to prevent the activities identified in the order from recurring, or to prevent an increase in their frequency or seriousness.
The report says there are no financial implications associated with the consultation decision.
For residents and businesses, the practical effect of an extension would be that enforcement powers linked to street drinking and associated anti-social behaviour would remain in place across the city. For the council and police, it would mean officers could continue using the orders as part of their wider response to alcohol-related nuisance and disorder. If the orders lapse, those specific PSPO powers would no longer be available after October.
